Senate bringing Gov's bill to a vote

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos just stated that they were going to bring Gov. David Paterson’s bill to a vote of the Senate, as he introduced him.

Skelos said that he has instructed his conference members to “vote as they wish.” He himself will be voting against the bill, saying that he is opposed to mid-year cuts to school aid.

“We are going to respect Gov. David Paterson’s request to put out a vote of the full Senate,” Skelos said.

In fact, that isn’t exactly what Paterson requested. He first asked legislative leaders to submit budget cut proposals, which neither the Senate nor Assembly did. He then submitted his own proposal, asking for comment and negotiation to come to an agreement. Skelos refused to negotiate, and that discussion has not happened.

This isn’t so different from when Paterson asked Skelos not to vote on the property tax cap bill that the governor introduced, asking for Skelos to wait until there was agreement with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The result: Assembly passed a circuit breaker, the Senate passed a property tax cap, and the issue stalled and hasn’t been picked up.